Kira's Reflections
by KiraJenLove
Summary: Kira reflects on some of her memories of her life with Jen, from the healing of the Dark Crystal until old age, told from Kira's POV. WARNING, SEQUEL SPOILER!


I can still remember what it was like when Jen and I were young. I remember that terrible day; it was the worst day of our lives, it was the best day of our lives. I remember when I first met Jen in the swamp the day before; how sweet and helpless he seemed. At first, I wasn't quite sure what he was! I had never seen another Gelfling before in my life, except for a hazy memory of my mother, of her getting killed. I can tell you that image was burned on my brain forever.

I remember that terrible day, when the garthim attacked our Podling village; when my dear friends, the landstriders, were killed while attacking the garthim; when the Chamberlain caught us, hurt Jen, then dragged me away to have my essence drained. I remembered how I escaped, when Aughra told me to call the animals - I don't know why I didn't think of it myself - probably because I was so terrified of what that Skeksis was going to do to me. I thought I was a goner for sure. I knew that if they drained my essence completely, I would no longer have the presence of mind to escape, to free myself. Then they could have killed me at their leisure. And what scared me the most, I would no longer have recognized Jen. I would have been unable to communicate with him, tell him I loved him. I would have been as dead to him as a stone. I thank the Creator that I was able to get out of there in one piece.

I remember watching Jen across the balconies, getting ready to fulfill his mission. I was so glad to see him alive! And then Fizzgig! Oh, I love him to death, but I could have killed him at that moment. He put our lives in danger with his incessant barking! I tried to shut him up, but it was too late. They saw us.

I remember Jen jumping onto the Crystal, but then he dropped the shard! I gasped, but then that Skeksis tried to get it, and Fizzgig…..NO! I thought for sure I had lost my beloved pet.

That was it. I had to take matters into my own hands. I remember jumping off the balcony, flying down to pick up the shard. I grabbed it before the Skekses could get their grubby hands on it. I tried stabbing at them with it, but there were just too many of them. The important thing now was to get the shard back to Jen. The 3 suns were almost touching. Jen, bless his heart, was trying to negotiate with them not to harm me, but did he really think that would help? Would he sacrifice the fate of the world just to save my life, which, if that occurred, along with his life, would be worth nothing? I had to do it. I reminded him of his mission, and threw it back to Jen, who caught it. Good catch! I was so proud of him. Then there was a horrible pain in my back, and everything went black.

When I awoke, Jen was now on the floor, holding me in his arms. He had been crying, bless his heart. There was a great white light everywhere. Was this Heaven? Was I dead? Some strange, alien-looking beings now encircled the Crystal, which was pure white. The Skekses were gone. They were singing. All I remember them saying was, "Now we leave you the Crystal of Truth. Make your world in its light." I looked into Jen's face, into his dark blue eyes, and there I saw the deepest love and relief. At that moment, I knew I loved him too. I think I started falling in love with him the moment I woke up with him that morning on the forest floor. When he had asked me where we were, I said, "Safe". What I was really thinking was, "Just shut up and lie here with me a while. I like this."

Then the beings had left through the triangular hole in the ceiling, as we watched. I placed a proprietary hand on his chest. Jen was mine, and I was his. We were the last two Gelflings on the planet, and we belonged to each other. We knew we had a new mission to fulfill - a much more pleasant one. It would be our responsibility to repopulate the Gelfling race, before we became extinct. This was something that we saw as a blessing, not a burden.

I could tell that Jen was of a different "race" of Gelfling than I was; his olive skin, his dark hair with the purple and white highlights, and his deep blue eyes. Me with my flaxen hair, pale skin and brown eyes. But the differences were good. It meant more diversity in the gene pool. And Jen was actually quite handsome, as well as being very sweet. If the Holocaust had never happened, I doubt that Jen and I would ever have met. Fate has a way of throwing unlikely people together.

That day, Jen and I walked to a balcony that overlooked the valley of the Castle of the Crystal. It was so beautiful. A gorgeous river flowed by; there were beautiful flowers and green grass all over. The three suns were shining brightly. So this is the way the world was meant to be, I had thought to myself. And I get to share it with my True Love. I wrapped my arm around Jen's waist, and he, mine. Then he did something I didn't expect. He turned to face me, and he looked deep in my eyes, with this _look, _and kind of a wistful smile on his face. He lifted a slender finger to my chin, and tilted his head down to kiss me, a gentle touch at first, then again, as I responded. A jolt of electricity ran down my body, as I became aroused at this new touch. I breathed deeply, and drank in his kisses. I couldn't stop. Our lips locked long, moving passionately together. Our breathing quickened, our pulses raced. We had to stop for a second, as we rested our foreheads together, to catch our breath. We were getting way too excited. "Do that again," I whispered to him. He obeyed, and I just let myself go and enjoyed the experience. I wanted more.

But Jen wanted to do the right thing by me; he respected me too much to take something from me that wasn't officially his. He proposed to me that very day. Of course, I accepted! We were married in a Podling ceremony soon after; it was a wonderful party, with my singing and Jen's firca-playing adding a multicultural touch to the festivities. My mother Ydra was so proud of me, and she loved Jen as if he were her own son. She kept urging us to have lots of babies. "Don't worry, Mama," I told her with a smile, "the babies will come in time."

Little did I know, I'd have plenty of time to wait. I didn't find out until much later, when Aughra told me that Gelflings don't even start to reproduce until they are about 40. Jen and I were only about 20. That would give Jen and I 20 years of free time to enjoy each other, without family distractions.

I remember the first time Jen and I made love. It was the day after the wedding, when we finally got back to the castle. There was a beautiful new, huge bed there for us; the Urskeks must have left it as a gift. In fact, everything about the castle was new. We went in to check it out. Jen went over and sat on the edge of the bed. He patted the space next to him. "C'mere, you," he said. I walked over and sat close to him. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close to him. I looked up into his face, and he lifted my chin with his finger, and bent closer for a kiss. I slid my hand around the back of his head to pull him closer as well, as our lips slid over each other's. Our breathing started getting hot and heavy, and I remember thinking, _This is it, we're going to do it. Right now, here on this bed. _Just the thought of it made me tingle all over with excitement. I couldn't wait to get my clothes off. Jen seemed to read my mind, because he then attempted to remove my brown cloak. Likewise, I helped him remove his tunic with the runes in it, a beautiful piece of work, I had always thought. Before long, we were both down to our underwear, which for me was a simple brief, and no top. Jen wore nothing under his striped pants, which I was surprised at. Jen leaned forward to kiss me again as he fondled one of my small breasts. I could tell his excitement was growing, as I attempted to remove his last bit of clothing. Soon, we were both naked, writhing around on the soft bed, a tangle of arms, legs, and wings, our lips locked, savoring the taste of each other, relishing the close, warm, physical contact of our bodies. Jen was fully aroused by then. I wanted him so badly, but then, I heard a voice in my mind - _What would you like me to do for you? _I knew Jen was communicating with me telepathically. So I sent an image to his mind of exactly what I wanted. He turned his deep blue eyes to mine, smiled, and then slid down about 18 inches south, his head between my legs, and went to work. I yelped at first, then let out a moan. Oh, what he could do with his tongue, it would make your toes curl. That day, I had the most powerful orgasm I'd ever had in my life. It was something you'd expect from a seasoned lover, not a recent virgin. I think the telepathy between us showed him exactly what he needed to do. But Jen was always a gentleman lover - he always made sure I was satisfied before taking pleasure in me.

Once he knew I had been taken care of, he then proceeded to do the next thing that I wanted. We found a comfortable position that wouldn't damage my wings. We found a rhythm together, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Soon, we climaxed almost simultaneously, then we fell limply into each other's arms, exhausted, as we embraced each other closely, stroking each other's bodies. When our breathing had returned to normal, Jen stroked my long blonde hair and whispered in my ear, "_I love you, Kira. So much." _"I love _you, _Jen," I whispered back. I could feel the wetness between my legs, but I didn't mind. Jen had shared his male essence with me; an essence that hopefully would, one day, give me a child. But for now we were content to simply bask in the afterglow of post-coital bliss. "Jen," I asked him, "how ever did you learn to do that?"

"I dreamed it," he told me. "When I started coming of age while I was being raised with the Mystics, I used to dream of holding a Gelfling woman in my arms, and making love to her. This would always make me cry, because I believed I was the last one." Then he turned to me. "And now here you are. And now my dreams are finally coming true." This made me smile, and I embraced him, never wanting to let go.

Jen and I had incredible libidos - I had heard that Gelflings were like that. Always having sex. It was the glue that sealed our marriage, and we bonded very strongly through it. Even today, as old as we are, my sweet old Jen still knows how to pleasure me, and we still can't get enough of each other.

After 20 years of worry-free sex, one day, I woke up nauseated, and ran outside to be sick. I wasn't feeling too well, and thought I was ill, but I knew I was very healthy and not given to being sick. Jen was concerned about me, of course, and suggested I talk to my mother about it. My breasts were also getting tender, so when my inquistive mother began testing various parts of my body with her hands, I winced. At once, her face lit up like the Rose Sun. "Kira!" Ydra shouted for joy in her native Podling, Oh, My little Kira's going to have a baby!"  
"Oh, mother, am I?!" I cried out happily in Podling. I then turned to Jen to translate. "Jen, we're pregnant!"  
Jen was beside himself with joy. He hugged me and rocked me back and forth in his arms. "Congratulations, Kira, I knew we could do it," he whispered to me.  
"Congratulations to you too, Jen - you're going to be a daddy now!" He smiled from ear to ear. "Yes, I am, aren't I?"  
Ydra embraced me tightly, and danced around. She immediately took me by the hand and led me over to the main community pod, where most of the clan was hanging out.  
"My Kira's going to have a baby!" She shouted to everyone there. Immediately there was silence for a few seconds, but then it erupted into a roar of happy shouts, whistles and congratulations. Many of them ran up to us and hugged us. I was still a little in shock, but I was grateful for all the attention, and I had been getting worried a lot lately, wondering if Jen or I were infertile. I was beginning to worry that we'd _never _have a baby. And I _so _wanted to have one with Jen, and he with me. Actually, I instinctively knew that I wanted to have a _large _family, especially given the fact that we were the last two Gelfling on the planet, so we needed to "go forth and multiply". Well, the babies started coming, alright - and they didn't stop for the next 40 years! I had about a 2-year break between births, but they were coming along at a pretty good rate. Jen and I never used any form of birth control (even though I knew a few natural ones), because we believed that we should just let the babies come naturally, for the sake of the race.

After the first few births, I started to relax and started to work _with _the contractions, not against them, and I gradually lost the fear of labor. I just did what I had to do to get that baby out. Those were the toughest 40 years of my life, but the best years, too. I loved raising my little ones from a baby, to a toddler, to a young child, and eventually to adulthood. Jen helped in their education, since he knew about reading, writing, arithmetic and music, and I taught them how to live in harmony with nature, how to be healers, how to sing, how to cook, and many other things. Jen and I had _20 children _over those 40 years; some of them were sets of twins. My first pregnancy was a set of twins - one girl and one boy. I named the girl Kirana, (which meant "daughter of Kira"), and the boy Jardin (whose name I wanted to sound similar to his father's). I knew that the girl, my firstborn daughter, would one day take my place as queen of this castle. Jen and I had assumed leadership here in the castle after the Crystal was healed, and things were going well for the land and its peoples.

When the time came for The End of my fertility, I cried. I knew it was a chapter of my life that was now over. But Jen comforted me in the fact that we had produced 20 beautiful children, the oldest of whom were now having families of their own. My body, he told me, needed rest, and now we would once again have worry-free sex for the rest of our lives, and I knew that Gelflings could live for hundreds of years. At least in those thoughts, I could take comfort. It would be nice to once again have it be just Jen and I; and when our grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren came to visit, we could always send them back home again later, and then Jen and I could go back to the bedroom and have all the privacy we wanted.

One day, I remember I was in a creative mood. I was looking at Jen's disheveled mop of dark hair, wondering if I could style it for him. I thought he might look good with a couple of large braids at each temple, just forward of his ears, and then maybe part his bangs. He might look cute that way. I wondered if he would even let me do that. I asked him, and surprisingly, he said yes! So I set to work on him, and by the time I was finished, he actually looked as good as I had imagined. I fetched him a mirror, and he looked at it curiously. "Not bad, Kira, not bad," he had said. So, from that day on, he kept that hairstyle, until he was old and his hair had turned completely white. I had even taught him how to braid his long hair himself. With a little practice, he became quite adept at it. As for me, I kept my hair long all my life, and just brushed it. It gradually turned from a golden blonde to a silvery white. I had a very ornate headdress for when I was in court, meeting visitors and solving disputes among our descendants, but the rest of the time I wore a simple gold band for a crown. It was much more comfortable. The years have caught up with me, finally; I have bags under my eyes, and I feel like I have lost some of my youthful beauty from when I was 20, but Jen tells me all the time that I'm still the most beautiful woman in the world, and that I still turn him on. Bless his heart. Then he proves this to me by taking me by the hand back to the bedroom and pleasuring me no end. His hair may be whiter now, a few more wrinkles, but the rest of his body still works just fine, and so does mine. Our libidos are still as strong as when we were young, and now that the children have long since left the nest and begun a new colony in the Valley of the Castle, we have more freedom to enjoy each other. Sometimes he can be quite spontaneous. One day, as I was walking back to our room from having taken a bath, with nothing but a towel wrapped around me, Jen spied me in the hallway, approached me, and pinned me up against the wall. Yes, he definitely "pinned" me. I was surprised he was strong enough to hold me up against the wall, but I don't weigh that much. That experience was definitely different, but I enjoyed it. Sometimes it's nice just to lie in bed with him, not making love at all, just snuggling with him, enjoying his presence and warmth. I get such a feeling of peace and euphoria when we're like that. Jen and I have become like One Being. I dread the day that one of us should die before the other; I know I would die of loneliness and a broken heart soon after. I would feel like one of those Urskeks - split in half, lost half of myself. I couldn't go on alone. We are part of each other.

One day, Jen and I decided to go and visit the colony, see how our children were doing. As we approached on the road to the village, some of the Gelflings saw us and ran running back to the others, shouting, "The King and Queen are here!" Before we knew it, the entire village had turned out to see us. Our 20 children, the village elders, were the first to greet us. Our daughter, Kirana, approached us first, saying, "Greetings, Mother and Father," as she bowed low to us. The rest of our children greeted us as mother and father, or grandmother and grandfather, but everyone else in the village called us "Your majesties", and bowed the knee to us. We smiled at them, returning a shallow bow. We told them that we had just come to see how everyone was doing, to see if we could offer any help. They invited us to a celebration in the community's Great Hall, where all the town festivities and meals were held. Gelflings were a very social race, and the clans did everything together, even taking everyday meals together. They were much like the Podlings in that respect, as I recall.

They had built two thrones for us in the Great Hall, so that we could observe the festivities from a place of honor. Jen and I took a seat, and listened to the infectious music as the food was being prepared. Jen could no longer fight the urge to take out his firca, as he had before at that ill-fated Podling party so long ago, and join in with the music. The Gelflings turned to watch their King excellently turn out a tune, piping in harmony with the flow of the music. When that song ended and another began, Jen reached across to my throne, which was next to his, and gently grasped my hand. "May I have this dance?" he asked. I smiled at him, and arose.

The whole Gelfling community turned to watch us descend from our thrones, to join our offspring on the dance floor. Jen placed a hand on my waist, and grasped my hand with the other, as I placed my hand on his shoulder. We swayed and spun around gracefully to the music, and the others saw us and followed suit. It was all very romantic. Jen couldn't take his blue eyes off mine. A voice entered my head - _Do you know what I'd like to do to you right now? _Telepathically, I sent Jen an answer. _Just wait until we get back to the castle, and I'll show you a few things myself. _

We stayed late into the evening, and took some time to talk to the village elders about any problems they might have had that needed help, but it seemed like everything was going fine. The people were happy, and they had diversified into different vocations, so that all needs of the community were met. The families were fruitful, and precious little children were running all over the place. While we were sitting on our thrones, a young male Gelfling approached us. I did a double-take, and stared, as if I had seen a ghost. Standing in front of me, was a Gelfling who was the spitting image of young Jen. Even Jen's eyes went wide, and we looked at each other, then back at the young "clone". He was about 20, had the same olive skin, dark hair with purple/white highlights, the same dark blue eyes. His hair was even a little longer than most Gelfling males.

"What is your name, young one?" I asked him. He told me his name was Roshan. "I have brought you a gift, your majesty," he said. He brought out from under his tunic a large, clear, bright stone. "I found this in the mountains. I cut it myself. It is the only thing I know of that matches your beauty." I reached out and accepted it from him. I turned it over in my hands, examining it. It was very hard, but it sparkled brilliantly in the light. It had been cut on the edges into facets, adding to its beauty. "It's so beautiful," I told him. "What is it?" "I don't know, your majesty. But yes, it is beautiful." "Thank you so much, Roshan. It's a beautiful gift. I accept it." Roshan bowed low to me. He started to leave, but I said, "Roshan, you may not be aware of this, but you are the spitting image of my husband when he was your age." "Thank you, your majesty. I'll take that as a compliment," he said, glancing at the King. Jen smiled. Roshan then excused himself.

We called our eldest children, Kirana and Jardin, to us. Jardin had married his twin sister, Kirana. I had always been uncomfortable with these circumstances, but truth be told, they had no choice. We and our children were the only Gelflings on the planet. They had 10 beautiful, healthy children between them, so no harm, no foul. Since they were fraternal twins and not identical, genetically they were no different than any other sibling. And also, as twins, they already had a very deep bond with each other. After all, they shared a womb together. When all was said and done, they were really "just another gelfling". It wasn't so bad in the successive generations, because it was only 1st, 2nd, 3rd cousins, etc, mating with each other. Of our original 20 children, we had two extra boys with no mates, so they had to wait until they were 80 before they could marry a niece. Still, no genetic problems arose, and the further away from Jen and I the generations got, the more diverse their gene pool, and the safer they were. Even at the age of 80, they were still young. Gelflings didn't really start to look old until they were at least 300. Despite the "necessary evil" of incest in that first generation, things still turned out OK.

When we called them to us, they both came and bowed low. "You called, Mother and Father?" "Yes," I told them. "We would like to take our leave of you. It is time for us to return to the castle." "Very well," said Kirana. "We have enjoyed your company here tonight. Please come back again soon." That made me smile, and I arose, placed a hand on my daughter's head and drew her close, and kissed her forehead. "I'm so proud of you," I said. "You will make a wonderful queen someday." "Thank you, Mother," she said. With that, Jen and I headed back to the castle, as hundreds of Gelflings tossed beautiful flowers on our path on the way back out of the village. It was nice to be so loved and well-received.

When Jen and I returned to the castle, he said, "Now, what about that promise?" I smiled that knowing smile at him, hooked my long, slender fingers around his, and drew him toward the bedroom, and closed the door behind us.

Ah, yes, so many memories of our youth, of our marriage. Hundreds of years worth of memories. I'm sure it would make a very thick book if I were to include all of them. Dreamfasting now takes us hours, so sometimes I do a little mental "editing".

"Honey, are you OK? You seem a little lost in thought." It's Jen, he's come up behind me. Of course he knows what I'm thinking, we have a telepathic bond - but he's never invasive with it. He still lets me have my privacy. "Yes," I tell him. "Just thinking about our life together." "Good things, I hope," he says. "Oh yes; lots of wonderful memories. My life with you has been a blessing, Jen. It really has. Without you, I would have been so lonely, and our race would have gone extinct. Look at all we have now." Jen smiles at me. "Yes, we truly are blessed." He sits down next to me and looks into my eyes with great love and affection. "I have an idea. Let's snog." He lies down on the bed and beckons to me. I willingly crawl onto the bed and lie down very close to him, snuggling into him. We then begin passionately kissing, slowly, tenderly. I love snogging with him. No sex, necessarily. Just holding him, kissing him, being with him, feeling his warmth and closeness. It's just such a peaceful feeling, and there are no expectations to fulfill, just us and our love. In fact, this is what I believe "making love" really means. I feel like I could lie here forever like this. It reminded me of that morning we woke up in the forest, so long ago. It seemed like a lifetime ago….and it was.


End file.
